1.  Asthma

“Extreme Unction” they called it.  I was in 4^th grade of elementary school when I became so sick with pneumonia that I was hospitalized with a fever of 107 degrees.  My parents were with me when a priest came to my hospital bed and performed the sacrament that was often referred to as “The Last Rite.”   I remember telling my classmate, Audrey, at a later time, that I hadn’t really been scared of dying.  I just wanted to get better, and “liked the prayers he said.”

“Allergy-induced Asthma.”  That was the diagnosis my parents were given when I was six months old.  Treatment in the 1930’s was to keep me still and quiet, away from everything I was allergic to.  My early childhood memories are of dreaded hospitalizations, isolating oxygen tents, painful shots, and lonely time spent at windows watching others playing outside.  Wheezing became a familiar sound.  I often thought I heard voices in the next room or downstairs from my bedroom, but it was actually my own wheezing.  If I laughed too hard, walked too fast, got too cold or too hot, became excited about anything (especially holidays), caught a cold, inhaled too much secondary smoke, or inhaled certain fragrances, I had an asthma attack.

©Pat Montesano 2008 All Rights Reserved.